Oregon Finds Switching From Coal to Renewable Energy Is a Bargain Oregon may have a reputation for rainy weather, but the outlook for the renewable energy there is definitely sunny. Earlier this year the state passed legislation that requires utilities to stop generating electricity from coal by 2030. At the time, one of Oregon’s two main energy utilities, Pacific Power, predicted that the switch to renewables would come with a fairly high cost, hitting customers with a rate increase of 0.8 percent per year through 2030. That’s a cumulative increase of about 12 percent over the next 14 years. Since then, however, things have changed. After the legislation passed, Pacific Power put out a request for bids for renewable energy projects, and developers came back with prices much lower than expected. How low? Try 0.1 percent through the year 2028. That’s not per year, like the previous estimate. It’s the projected rate increase for the entire time period. That amounts to a 10-cent rate increase for every current $100 in electricity costs. “At these prices, and as utilities grow more comfortable with the operating characteristics of solar plants, solar will make up an increasingly large share of America’s energy portfolio,” Hobson said. See http://ift.tt/2aPsOqD
Comments